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Prose Tristan
The '''Prose Tristan' as it survives is a product of the second and third quarters of the 13th century. In French it is known as 'Le roman de Tristan en prose'. Different Versions Changes in Analyses of the Different Versions Older critical comment often says quite firmly that the ''Prose Tristan exists in two versions, a shorter, first version which claims to be by one Luces de Gat and a longer, second version which claims to be by Helie de Boron. The Post-Vulgate Arthurian Cycle was written between the two, and references to events told more fully in the Post-Vulgate exist because the author of the Post-Vulgate expanded those references. Examination of the manuscripts has shown this to be incorrect. See especially Baumgartner (1975). Almost all manuscripts which have an ending, claim that the work is by Luces de Gat and was continued by Helie de Boron. The short version contains references to events that are not told in it, but which are told in the long version. The long version contains references to events that are not told in it, but which are told in the short version. The version of the Prose Tristan mentioned in the Post-Vulgate Cycle would be this early version. It now appears that the short version may not be older than the longer version (although it may be). It appears there was a now-lost early version of the Prose Tristan which claimed to be by Luces de Gat which was soon expanded to produce the versions which have survived. All the surviving versions owe much to the Post-Vulgate Cycle which had itself been influenced by the lost original version of the Prose Tristan. The two surviving basic versions of the Prose Tristan are now known as V.I and V.II. Their text is mostly the same up to the point where Tristan, Palamedes, and Dinadan are set free from prison by Daras (Löseth, § 184). From that point the versions they begin to differ widely although they seldom contradict one another and sometimes for a time have essentially the same text. Version I (V.I) Version I, or V.I, is also known as the short version of the Prose Tristan and is found complete only in MS. fr. 757. It includes a long account of Tristan’s captivities by King Mark, full accounts of Gawain slaying Driant and Lamorat, of Tristan and Yseult’s voyage to Britain and various other passages not found in V.II. It also omits material found in V.II. In particular, the parts of it telling of the Grail quest mostly restrict themselves to relating only Tristan’s adventures. See Prose Tristan (charts), Post-Vulgate (charts), and Quest of the Holy Grail (charts) for exact details. See also Baumgartner (1975, pp. 53–62). Version II (V.II) Version II, or V.II, is also known as the long version of the Prose Tristan and is the version found most often. Generally speaking this version is fuller than V.I, including in particular a long account of the travels of King Mark to Arthur’s court, an account of how Tristan defeated Helyant the Saxon, and a full version of the Grail quest extracted from the Vulgate Quest and the Post-Vulgate Quest. Again, see Prose Tristan (charts), Post-Vulgate (charts), and Quest of the Holy Grail (charts) for exact details. See also Baumgartner (1975, pp. 53–62). Version III (V.III) Version III, or V.III, combines V.I and V.II. It is found in the manuscripts PARIS, B.N. fr. 97, 100–101, 340, 349, and 772 and in CHANTILLY, 648. This version contains, as do some manuscripts of V.II, sections from the Prose Lancelot telling of the fathering of Galahad, [of Gaunes|Bohort’s adventures at the Corbenic and the madness of Lancelot as found in the Prose Lancelot despite previously including the version of Lancelot’s madness found in V.II. The only substantial portion of V.III to be published is in Joël Blanchard’s Le roman de Tristan en prose: Les deux captivités de Tristan. In part, this is because the individual sections of V.III do not differ significantly from the corresponding versions of V.I and V.II from which they are taken. See Baumgartner (1975, pp. 67–71). Version IV (V.IV) Version IV, or V.IV, is mainly an expansion of V.III. V.IV is the version followed in PARIS, B.N. fr. 99, in CHANTILLY, 645-646-647, LENINGRAD, Fr. F. v. XII. 2, and in NEW -YORK, Pierpont Morgan 41. It dates to the late 14th or early 15th century V.IV contains two additional episodes: the Tournament of Sorelois and the story of Alexandre the Orphan both taken from the Prophecies of Merlin, followed by a different account of how Tristan was imprisoned by King Mark and Tristan’s final escape. There are other less important insertions. See Baumgartner (1975, pp. 71–76). MS. PARIS, B.N. fr. 103 PARIS, B.N. fr. 103 and Renaissance printed editions mainly provides V.II with Tristan’s dragon fight added from the verse versions of the Tristan story and the final adventures of Tristan replaced by a series of adventures similar to those found in the extent verse versions, but seemingly more primitive, possibly based directly on the lost Estoire which scholars speculate was the version of the Tristan tale which lies behind all the medieval verse romances about Tristan. Other minor differences from other versions appear. See Baumgartner (1975, pp. 77–82). The sections of this version which correspond more-or-less to the Tristan poems are edited in Bédier (Appendice I, pp. 321–95) which is translated into English in Norman B. Spector’s The Romance of Tristan and Isolt. Other Versions For the fragments of B.N. fr. 12,599, see Baumgartner (1975, pp. 63–67). For PARIS, B.N. fr. 758, see Baumgartner (1975, p. 83). For PARIS, B.N. fr. 24400, see Baumgartner (1975, p. 84). For the fragments of B.N. fr. 12,599, see Baumgartner (1975, pp. 63–67). Basic Plot The matter behind the Prose Lancelot was probably in part inspired by the more primitive stories of Tristan, takes if a hero who has a love affair with the wife of his king. If this had proved so popular, why not try a similar long tale with the original hero, with Tristan? The first part of the tale told by both V.I and V.II roughly follows the verse versions. Tristan is the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, defeats the Morholt in single combat, is healed of a poisoned wound by Yseult the Blond, later wins Yseult as his uncle King Mark’s wife, and then Tristand and Yseult by misadventure drink a love potion and fall helplessly in love with one another. When they arrive in Cornwall, Yseult’s handmaiden Brangain is bedded with Mark to hide that Yseult has lost her virginity. But Tristan and Yseult’s secret love meetings arouse suspicion. Eventually they are caught. Tristan, as in the verse romances, escapes by leaping from a chapel. Tristan rescues Yseult from the lepers to whom she has been given and the two lovers flee to the wilderness. Whereas in extent verse versions, Tristan and Yseult eventually return to Mark’s court voluntarily, here Mark happens to come across their hideout when Tristan is off hunting and seizes Yseult. Tristan, in an unrelated incident, is wounded, and Yseult, through a messenger, suggests that Tristan seek to be healed by Yseult White-hands, daughter of King Howel of Little Britain. In Little Britain, Tristan is healed, aids King Howel in a war, gains the friendship of Howel’s son Kehedin and the hand in marriage of Howel’s daughter Yseult White-hands. But Tristan finds on his wedding night that his love for Yseult the Blond forbids him to consummate his marriage to Yseult White-hands. Eventually Tristan, accompanied by Kehedin, returns to Cornwall to reunite with his true love Yseult, King Mark’s wife. Up to this point, this summary might suggest little difference from the verse version. But now, unlike the extent verse versions, Kehedin does not fall in love with Yseult’s handmaiden Brangain, but with Yseult herself. Yseult writes a letter to let Kehedin down gently, Tristan finds it and reads it, and begins to go insane. At this point in the extent verse romances, Tristan seems at the point of madness when Kehedin, angry at not gaining Brangain, lies about what they have been doing which makes it appear that Tristan has not acted honorably. But Tristan, in the Prose Tristan, becomes genuinely insane, like Yvain in Chrétien de Troyes’ Yvain, or like Lancelot in the Prose Lancelot. Kehedin, unlike his verse counterpart, interminably sickens and dies of his love for Yseult. Tristan, as in the verse romances of his feigned madness, is eventually recognized by his dog and is healed in court. From this point the verse romances are dropped almost completely. Tristan, banished from Cornwall, seeks to become a knight of great reputation in King Arthur’s Logres. Tristan is the victor at two tournaments and is for a time in the grasp of Morgain the Fay. When Tristan slays Morgain’s lover Huneson, Morgain enchants a lance which will cause Tristan’s death, although this takes years to happen. Tristan eventually becomes a Knight of the Round Table and through Arthur’s influence King Mark is forced to reconcile with Tristan and take him back. The V.II text mostly suppresses what occurs here, only mentioning in a few lines that Tristan was imprisoned by Mark but eventually escaped and fled Cornwall with Yseult. The V.I text has the story of the lovers fooling King Mark who is hiding in a tree. Then King Mark, as in Thomas’ version, happens by mischance to stumble upon Tristan and Yseult while the two of them are in bed together, which explains Tristan’s imprisonment. Tristan is eventually rescued by Perceval or during a rebellion of the people of Cornwall. Or both occurred, one after the other. In Logres Tristan and Yseult are secretly hidden away by Lancelot in his Castle of Joyous Gard. But the secret leaks out, Mark learns of their whereabouts, and during the grail quest Mark invades Logres and seizes Yseult and carries her back to Cornwall. Tristan falls ill when he learns of this. V.I and V.II fall together again for some banal adventures of Tristan as he makes his way back to Cornwall to renew his love affair with Yseult. Mark learns that Tristan and Yseult have renewed their love affair and lurks in hiding until he sees them together and stabs Tristan in the spine with Morgain’s lance which she has sent him. Tristan orates that Death has defeated him, persuades the repentant Mark to allow Yseult to visit him in his last moment, and then, with her agreement, Tristan uses his last strength to embrace her so strongly that her heart is crushed, and Tristan dies from that final feat of strength. Arthurization of the Prose Tristan The Prose Tristan is even more strongly Arthurized then this summary indicates. On Tristan’s first journey to Ireland he takes part in a tournament in which Gawain, Yvain, and other Knights of the Round Table take part. Tristan’s killing of a giant serpent is not told. Instead Tristan wins Yseult by representing Yseult’s father in a duel with Blanor, a Knight of the Round Table, at Arthur’s court. The story has also previously told how Tristan defeated Sagremor and Dodinel in jousts and defeated Bliobleheris in full battle. On his way back to Cornwall with Yseult, Tristan was imprisoned in the Castle of Tears until the slew its lord Breunor, the father of Galeholt Numerous other Arthurian events fill out the story. See Prose Tristan (charts) for full details. The Death of Tristan Gertrude Schoepperle Loomis in her Tristan and Isolt (pp. 439–46) suggests that the death story of Tristan in the Prose Tristan predates that in the verse versions of the tale. She points out that in similar Irish tales the hero is always killed by the injured husband. Loomis also points out that in the Tavola Ritonda version of Tristan’s death, Andred learns that Tristan is with Yseult not only by hearing Tristan sing a lay, but by seeing Tristan and Yseult playing at chess through a window. Andred immediately warns King Mark, who comes with his lance as in the Prose Tristan. In the Irish The Elopement of Deidre with Naisi, Trén-dor (who corresponds to Andred), looks through a window and sees Naisi (who corresponds to Tristan) and Deirdre (who corresponds to Yseult) at a game board. Deirdre spots Trén-dor at the window and silently indicates him to Naisi, who hurls a game piece at Trén-dor’s eye, knocking it out onto hid cheek. Trén-dor, his eye on his cheek, runs to tell King Conchobar (who corresponds to Mark). In the last surviving section of Béroul’s Tristan, Gondoïne, one of the barons who have been hostile to Tristan, peers through a window of a chamber and sees Tristan and Yseult together. Yseult notices the head in the window and pretends to be interested in Tristan’s bow and how to work it. When Tristan has an arrow in place, Yseult silently indicates Gondoïne’s head with her eyes, and Tristan shoots an arrow into Gondoïne’s head. Published Editions Early Section, Common to V.I and V.II Renée L. Curtis originally began to edit an edition of the Prose Tristan based on Carpentras, Bibl. Municipale 404. Three volumes only were published in over twenty years (currently available from D. S. Brewer): *Curtis, Renée L. (Ed.) (1963–1985). Le roman de Tristan en prose (3 vols.). **Vol. I: (1965). Munich: Max Hueber Verlag ***(reissued 1985 Cambridge: D.S. Brewer) ISBN 978-0-85991-181-8 ****Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=COsr1PIVv5cC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Vol. II: (1976). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-04288-1 ***(reissued 1985 Cambridge: D.S. Brewer) ISBN 0859911829, ISBN 978-0859911825 **Vol. III: (1985). Cambridge: D.S. Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-183-2 This edition was continued in a series of volumes under the executive editorship of Philippe Ménard. The portion of this edition which covers the early portion common to V.I and V.II is Volumes I to III: *Ménard, Philippe (Exec. Ed.). (1987–1997). Le roman de Tristan en prose (9 vols of which the first 3 cover the story common to both V.I and V.II.). Geneva: Librairie Droz. **Tome I: Ménard, Philippe (Ed.). (1987). Des aventures de Lancelot à la fin de la « Folie Tristan ». ISBN 2-600-02620-7, ISBN 978-2-600-02620-8 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=tZAYpWnO_oEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome II: Chênerie, Marie-Luce; Delcourt, Thierry; Ménard, Philippe (Eds.). (1990). Du bannissement de Tristan du royaume de Cornouailles à la fin du tournoi du Château des Pucelles. ISBN 2-600-02654-1, ISBN 978-2-600-02654-3 **Tome III: Roussineau, Gilles (Ed.). (1996). Du tournoi du Château des Pucelles à l’admission de Tristan à la Table Ronde (Sections I–XVIII.157 57–197 covers material common to V.I and V.II). ISBN 2-600-00184-0, ISBN 978-2-600-00184-7 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=XEKYYsb9udUC&lpg=PA3&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Prose Tristan'' V.I The only manuscript which contains V.I complete is MS. fr. 757 of the Bibliothèque Nationale. This is edited from the point where V.I and V.II separate in: *Laborderie, Noëlle; Delcourt, Thierry (Eds.). (1999). Le roman de Tristan en prose (version du manuscrit fr. 757 de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris) (Tome II). Paris: H. Champion. ISBN 978-2-7453-0082-9 *Ponceau, Jean-Paul (Ed.) (2000). Le roman de Tristan en prose (version du manuscrit fr. 757 de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris) (Tome III, De l’arrivée des amants à la Joyeuse Garde jusqu’à la fin du tournoi de Louveserp). Paris: H. Champion. ISBN 978-2-7453-0216-8 *Léonard, Monique; Mora-Lebrun, Francine; Ménard, Philippe (Eds.). (2003). Le roman de Tristan en prose (version du manuscrit fr. 757 de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris) (Tome IV, Du départ en aventures de Palamède à l'issue du tournoi de Louveserp jusqu’au combat de Tristan et de Galaad). Paris: H. Champion. ISBN 978-2-7453-0746-0 *Ferlampin-Acher, Christine; Ménard, Philippe (Eds.). (2007). Le roman de Tristan en prose (version du manuscrit fr. 757 de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris) (Tome V, De la rencontre entre Tristan, Palamède et le Chevalier à l'Écu vermeil à la fin du roman), Paris: H. Champion. ISBN 978-2-7453-1526-7 ''Prose Tristan'' V.II The V.II version of the Prose Tristan begins in Vol. III, section XVIII.158 (p. 198) *Ménard, Philippe (Exec. Ed.). (1987–1997). Le roman de Tristan en prose (9 vols of which the first part of the 3rd and those following cover the story as found in V.II.). Geneva: Librairie Droz. **Tome III: Roussineau, Gilles (Ed.). (1996). Du tournoi du Château des Pucelles à l’admission de Tristan à la Table Ronde (Beginning at section XVIII.158 [p. 198} for V.II). ISBN 2-600-00184-0, ISBN 978-2-600-00184-7 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=XEKYYsb9udUC&lpg=PA3&pg=PA200#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome IV: Faucon, Jean-Claude (Ed.) (1991). Du départ de Marc vers le royaume de Logres jusqu’à l’épisode du lai « Voir disant ». ISBN 2-600-01180-3, ISBN 978-2-600-01180-8 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=O1Ue6g93fK0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome V: Lalande, Denis (with Delcourt, Thierry). (Eds.). (1992). De l’arrivée des amants à la Joyeuse Garde jusqu’à la fin du tournoi de Louveserp. ISBN 2-600-02681-9, ISBN 978-2-600-02681-9 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=E6wnB0VxdYQC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome VI: Ménard, Philippe; Baumgartner, Emmanuèle; Szkilnik, Michelle (Eds.). (1993). Du séjour des amants à la Joyeuse Garde jusqu’aux premières aventures de la « Queste du Graal ». ISBN 2-600-02701-7, ISBN 978-2-600-02701-4 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=011WqSt2840C&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome VII: Queruel, Danielle; Santucci, Monique (Eds.). (1994). De l’appel d’Yseut jusqu’au départ de Tristan de la Joyeuse Garde. ISBN 2-600-00050-X, ISBN 978-2-600-00050-5 **Tome VIII: Guidot, Bernard; Subrenat, Jean (Eds.). (1995). De la quête de Galaad à la destruction du château de la lépreuse. ISBN 2-600-00108-5, ISBN 978-2-600-00108-3 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=rNVQxXjdEMsC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false **Tome IX: Harf-Lancner, Laurence (Ed.). (1997). La fin des aventures de Tristan et de Galaad. ISBN 2-600-00190-5, ISBN 978-2-600-00190-8 ''Prose Tristan'' V.III The only selection published outside of short quotations is the following: *Blanchard, Joël (Ed.) (1976). Le roman de Tristan en prose: Les deux captivités de Tristan. Paris: Éditions Klincksieck. ISBN 2-252-01903-4 ''Prose Tristan'' in MS. PARIS, B.N. fr. 103 Short extracts appear in the following: *Bédier, Joseph (Ed.) (1892). Appendice I: Les parties anciennes du roman en prose française. In Le roman de Tristan par Thomas: Poème du XIIe siècle (Tome II, pp. 121–59). Paris: Firmin-Didot. **Retrievable from http://www.archive.org/details/leromandetrista00bdgoog, http://www.archive.org/details/leromandetrista01bdgoog, http://www.archive.org/details/leromandetristan02thomuoft **Translated into English in Spector, Norman B. (Trans.) (1973). The romance of Tristan and Isolt: Translated from the Old French. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-0405-9 ***Preview retrievable from http://books.google.com/books?id=gpn349qbNJ0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false Category:Literary works Category:Prose Category:Old French